San Diego gets a plan to boost exports

Last May, the Brookings Institution reported that the San Diego metropolitan area wasn’t measuring up when it came to exports.

That’s because the region is the nation’s 17th largest, but ranks 55th in exports as a share of the metro’s gross domestic product.

Now, nearly 20 business organizations are using that report to build a collaborative effort to help the region improve exports and give a boost to the economy. Last week, the group, including nonprofits such as the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., and public agencies like the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, and Port of San Diego released what’s called the Global San Diego Export Plan. It provides a framework for increasing exports through education, outreach, and improvements to the area’s infrastructure.

“A lot of it comes down to taking work that we’ve done in a very solid fashion in San Diego and making it part of one coordinated, comprehensive plan,” said Mark Cafferty, CEO of the Economic Development Corp.

Brookings says half of the nation’s economic growth in the first year after the Great Recession came through exports. But while manufacturing employment rose in the nation in 2013, the field, which pays middle class wages, declined locally by 1,600 workers last year to 91,800 people, state data shows. There are 2,600 manufacturing establishments here, 99 percent of them small or medium sized, the report says.

“You can’t make a lot of international flights out of here and air cargo is a big source,” said Alan Gin, economist at the University of San Diego, not involved with the report. “The Port can do some stuff but it’s not nearly at the capacity that you’d see in L.A. and the Bay Area, and one of the reasons causing that problem is the lack of rail connections.”

Despite size limitations, Cafferty noted that the direct British Airways flight to London brings in millions of dollars each year and said a goal could be to bring in more strategic routes.

“It’s clear we have capacity for more international lift,” he said.

San Diego’s plan will take several years to complete, and requires initial funding. The 24-page document outlines four ways to get San Diego’s exports improving:

• Through taking advantage of San Diego’s biggest industries: military, tourism and innovation. More than 30 million people visit San Diego annually, and services to people from other countries is considered an export; San Diego is also home to more than 60 percent of the ships in the U.S. Navy and more than a third of the combat power of the Marine Corps.

• Help small- and medium-sized companies export through mentoring and financing programs.

• Improve the infrastructure by establishing a Regional Infrastructure Council, which would identify needs and secure funding for improvement projects. The report also says cyber infrastructure here is “woefully underdeveloped.”

• Take advantage of the CaliBaja binational mega region, and improve the border fluidity. The report says that the region loses $1.3 billion in revenue, $2.8 billion in output and 28,000 jobs per year because of long wait times.